Biography of APJ Abdul Kalam
Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam was a gem of a person and we all know such great personalities are born rarely but remembered for centuries to come. Being a multitude of so many great achievements, he was so much more than an extraordinary scientist and a political personality. Let’s get straight into it and discuss more about the Biography of APJ Abdul Kalam.
APJ Abdul Kalam Full Name
His full name was Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam and he was briefly known as Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, as we are all aware.
APJ Abdul Kalam Birthday
He was born on 15th October 1931 in Rameswaram – Pamban Island, (now in Tamil Nadu) India.
APJ Abdul Kalam Father
His father, Jainulabdeen Marakayar was a boat owner as well as imam of a local mosque. He owned a ferry boat that he used to transport Hindi pilgrims between Rameswaram and Dhanushkodi.
APJ Abdul Kalam Mother
His mother, Ashiamma was a housewife, like most Indian households.
APJ Abdul Kalam Family
He was the youngest of his four elder brothers and a sister in the family.
APJ Abdul Kalam Ancestors
His ancestors are said to be wealthy Marakayar traders who were also landowners, but by the time Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam was born, family fortune including properties – everything was lost, they now had their ancestral home, nothing else.
APJ Abdul Kalam Early Life
When he was in school, he used to sell newspapers to help his father and his family earn a decent income.
APJ Abdul Kalam Education
Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam started his early education as an average student, but everyone was aware of his hardworking mind and a brilliant mindset. He was always seen spending more time learning new things, especially the subject of Mathematics.
APJ Abdul Kalam Biography
He started his early schooling at Schwartz Higher Secondary School and then went to Saint Joseph’s College, Tiruchirappalli, which was a University of Madras affiliated institute. He graduated in Physics in the year 1954.
From there, he went to Madras for further studies in 1955. He started his Aerospace Engineering at the Madras Institute of Technology. Not many people know, but there was an incident where Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam was threatened to revoke his scholarship by the Dean, due to his lack of progress. Not just that, but he was then supposed to finish his project in just three days, which he did.
Later on, he received a letter from the Dean stating, he put Kalam under a lot of pressure and asked him to meet a difficult deadline. Somehow, Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam had to leave his dream of becoming a Fighter Pilot because he was placed in 9th place when, there were only 8 positions available in the IAF – Indian Air Force.
APJ Abdul Kalam as a Scientist
In 1960, he joined the Aeronautical Development Establishment of the DRDO – Defence Research and Development Organization as a Scientist. In his early days, he started by designing a small-sized hovercraft, but he wasn’t so sure about his current position.
He was also associated with the INCOSPAR Committee, by working under Vikram Sarabhai, a world-famous space scientist.
In 1969, Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam was transferred to ISRO – Indian Space Research Organization as the Director of India’s very first Satellite Launch Vehicle – SLV-III. It was successfully deployed in the Rohini Satellite in July 1980.
His work since 1965 for the expandable rocket project at DRDO then got him Government’s approval for expanding the program and get more scientists in the project.
He also developed PSLV – Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle along with SLV-III and both of these were a huge success. He got the invitation to attend the country’s first nuclear test called Smiling Buddha by Raja Ramanna, even though Kalam himself wasn’t part of the development team.
APJ Abdul Kalam Missile Man
He rejoined DRDO in 1982 and planned successful missiles, which earned him his world-famous nickname of “Missile Man.” Amongst these missiles, there was Agni, India’s first intermediate-range ballistic missile.
He then served as Scientific Adviser from 1992 to 1997 to the Defense Minister and then worked as Principal Scientific Adviser from 1999 to 2001. He was then selected as the 11th President of India in July 2002.
APJ Abdul Kalam Wife
Dr. APJ Kalam didn’t marry throughout his life. He lead a simple life as an Unmarried man.
APJ Abdul Kalam Books
He wrote a few books including Wings of Fire (1999) which is his Autobiography. Amongst his many popular books, the most popular ones include India 2020: A Vision for the New Millenium, Ignited Minds, The Luminous Sparks, Mission India, Inspiring Thoughts, You Are Born To Blossom, and many more.
APJ Abdul Kalam Awards
Over many years, Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam has won so many prestigious awards and honors from various institutes in many countries. Amongst the most popular ones, he won Padma Bhushan (1981), Padma Vibhushan (1990), Bharat Ratna (1997), Indira Gandhi Award for National Integration (1997), Honorary Doctorate of Science (2007) from the University of Wolverhampton, UK, King Charles II Medal (2007), Hoover Medal (2009), Doctorate of Engineering (2010), Doctor of Science (2014), Honorary Professor (2014) and many more.
APJ Abdul Kalam Quotes
“Dream, dream, dream. Dreams transform into thoughts and thoughts result in action.”
“To succeed in your mission, you must have single-minded devotion to your goal.”
“Creativity is seeing the same thing but thinking differently.”
“All of us do not have equal talent. But, all of us have an equal opportunity to develop our talents.”
“Don’t take rest after your first victory because if you fail in the second, more lips are waiting to say that your first victory was just luck.”
“A dream is not that which you see while sleeping, it is something that does not let you sleep.”
“If you want to shine like a sun, first burn like a sun.”
“Let us sacrifice our today so that our children can have a better tomorrow.”
APJ Abdul Kalam Death
On 27th July 2015, he went to deliver a lecture on Creating a Livable Planet on Earth at the Indian Institute of Management, Shillong. He felt slight discomfort while climbing some stairs and later collapsed then at the hospital he went into cardiac arrest, resulting in his sad demise.
